William Travers

Travers worked between 1819 and 1903 across politician, lawyer, photographer, botanical collector and naturalist and 1 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 1 published texts and 49 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

The recorded working language is English. Positions recorded include Member of the New Zealand Parliament. Work by William Travers is recorded in the collections of Auckland Art Gallery and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Distinctions recorded are Fellow of the Linnean Society of London.

• Name — William Travers • Birth Name — William Thomas Locke Travers • Born — January 1819 • Birthplace — Newcastle West, County Limerick, Ireland • Died — 23 April 1903 • Place of death — Lower Hutt, New Zealand • Relatives — Henry Travers (son) • Occupation — Lawyer, magistrate, politician, explorer, naturalist, photographer

• Illustration — Travers with his wife and daughter in the garden of Englefield Lodge in Christchurch Travers was born near Newcastle West, County Limerick, Ireland, either on 9 or 19 January 1819. His father chose to retire to France, and Travers was consequently brought up there. He was educated in Saint-Malo, a town in Brittany. In 1835, he joined the British military, and was part of the British Auxiliary Legion that fought in Spain's First Carlist War. After his military service ended, Travers became a lawyer. In 1849, he and his family moved to Nelson, New Zealand, where he continued to practice law. Later, he also lived in Christchurch and Wellington. He purchased Englefield Lodge in Christchurch in 1866 and sold the property in 1872 to Edward Stevens.

Travers' political career covered both national and provincial politics. He was a member of the 1st New Zealand Parliament, representing first the Town of Nelson and then Waimea electorates, and served in the brief Forsaith ministry formed by Thomas Forsaith. In the 1st Parliament, the Town of Nelson was a two member electorate. On nomination day on 25 July 1853, Travers and James Mackay were the only candidates put forward. They were thus declared elected unopposed. Parliament's first term started on 24 May 1854. Travers and William Cautley, MP for Waimea, both resigned on 26 May 1854. Travers subsequently contested the electorate that Cautley had vacated, being elected in the 21 June 1854 Waimea by-election. He was re-elected in the 1855 general election, but was disqualified on 26 July 1859. Travers returned in the 4th Parliament as representative for the City of Christchurch, after winning the 1867 by-election. He resigned on 29 July 1870 before the end of the term. He was a member of the 6th Parliament as representative for the City of Wellington, having won the 1877 by-election. He resigned on 25 January 1878. He also served in the councils of Nelson Province and Canterbury Province, and unsuccessfully stood for the superintendency of both. He stood as one of seven candidates for the Nelson Provincial Council in August 1853 in the Town of Nelson electorate, where five seats were elected. He came sixth and was thus not elected. He represented Wellington in parliament from 1877 to 1881, but was not elected when he stood again in 1893. In Wellington he was City Solicitor, and was an advocate for the west coast railway in 1878. He subsequently became company solicitor to the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company which built the line north from Wellington to the Manawatu. His most significant political contribution was his campaign to make central government (rather than provincial government) responsible for education.

Travers was a frequent contributor to scientific journals and was also the author of Stirring Times of Te Rauparaha.

Travers' first wife Jane died in 1888 aged 67 years old, and he remarried to Theodora Leslie Barclay in 1891. Travers died in an accident at the Lower Hutt railway station on 27 April 1903, when attempting to alight from a moving train. His funeral was held at Lower Hutt, and he was buried in the Bolton Street Cemetery, Wellington. So he left a widow (Theodora) from his second marriage, and a son Henry Travers from his first marriage. Theodora remarried to Colonel Edward Wood in 1905. Travers' descendants settled in Marlborough. The Travers River in the Travers Valley, as well as the nearby Mt Travers, the Travers Saddle in the Travers Range, Upper Travers Hut and the Travers-Sabine Circuit in Nelson Lakes National Park are named after him, as is the Travers Room at the Rainbow Ski Area. At least two plant species were named for him (Myosotis traversii) or for him and his son (Olearia traversiorum).

William Travers was born on 1 January 1819 in Newcastle West. Travers held the nationality of Colony of New Zealand. Married to: Theodosia Leslie Barclay. Recorded child: Henry H. Travers worked as politician, lawyer, photographer and botanical collector, and the authority record catalogues a further 2 occupations under the same name, among them naturalist and scientific collector. Travers held the posts of Member of the New Zealand Parliament. Travers worked in English.